Chapter 12
According to the data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the annual levels of real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2005 and 2006 are 12,623.0 and 12,958.5 billion dollars respectively, while the annual levels of real consumption for the same years are 8,803.5 and 9,054.5 billion dollars respectively. Thus, there was 2.66 per cent rise in real GDP and 2.85 per cent growth in real consumption. Therefore, in percentage terms real consumption increased more rapidly than real GDP.
Chapter 13
The index of leading indicators for the United States decreased 0.1 per cent in March in comparison to February. Now, it is equal to 94.7. However, if we take the date for last three months combined, there is a general growth of the index. Truly, in both January and February the index increased 0.5 per cent every month. The weakest elements of the index in March were average weekly hours, manufacturers’ new orders and leading index. All of them encountered 0.1 falls last month. The strong point was building permits and stock prices that grew slightly in March.
Chapter 14
Regarding age and gender, the Board of Governors consists of four men and three women. Three out of four male governors are 60 years old or elder. Unfortunately, there is no information provided on the web site about the age of female governors. As to education, three out of seven members owe PhD in Economics, whereas two other members are Juris Doctors (JD). Furthermore, one governor has MBA degree and one governor is a bachelor in politics with additional law degree.
As regards the previous employment, two governors worked as professors in universities prior to appointment to the Board. The employers of others were the President's Council of Economic Advisers, the Twelfth District Federal Reserve Bank, TowneBank, the Commission of Financial Regulation for the State of Maryland and the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington. In addition, all of four male members were born in America. There is no information about their ethnic background. Then again, there is no information about where females were born.
Eventually, the terms in the Boar Jerome of H. Powell and Elizabeth A. Duke are going to expire soon.
Chapter 16
First, the Federal funds rate was equal to 0.15 in 12 April this year. This is 0.01 higher than the level of the annual rate for 2012, which is 0.14. Nevertheless, it is lower than the annual rate was in 2010. It was equal to 0.18 then.
Secondly, the latest level of discount rate is 0.75 for 12 April this year. It is 0.03 higher than in 2010 (0.72).
Finally, the prime interest rate has been stable during the last three years and equals 3.25.
